Mechanism for doubling soap dispensing amount of automatic soap dispenser

ABSTRACT

A mechanism for doubling a soap dispensing amount of an automatic soap dispenser includes: a speed reducer disposed inside a soap dispenser, driven by a motor and coupled with a pushing element; a resisting element provided on an inner surface of the soap dispenser that is on a forward moving side of the pushing element; and a soap container connected with a discharge tube located between the pushing element and the resisting element. A pad is coupled to a side of the resisting element facing the pushing element so as to be adjacent to an outer surface of the discharge tube, thereby increasing the time the discharge tube is jointly compressed by the pushing element and the resisting element. Thus, the soap dispensing amount can be doubled without having to modify an existing soap dispensing mechanism of the soap dispenser and a moving cycle of the pushing element.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Technical Field

The present invention relates to a soap dispensing mechanism of anautomatic soap dispenser, and more particularly, to a mechanism fordoubling a soap dispensing amount.

2. Description of Related Art

Automatic soap dispensers, mostly sensor-actuated, are widely used athomes as well as in public places for dispensing liquid soap in asanitary way as there is no need to contact the liquid soap dispensingdevices.

Soap is dispensed from an automatic soap dispenser by an electricallydriven compression mechanism pushing or compressing a soap containerloaded with liquid soap or a discharge tube. The course or time ofcompression can be set so as to discharge a constant amount of liquidsoap. However, the dispensing of liquid soap at a constant amount cannotsatisfy all user needs. For instance, some believe that only with alarge amount of liquid soap can a good cleaning effect be achieved in afilthy environment; others desire a large dispensing amount simplybecause they think the liquid soap is too thin. These are only some ofthe reasons why a constant soap dispensing amount may be consideredinsufficient. Besides, thick liquid soap may be dispensed at a largeramount than thin liquid soap under the action of the same soapdispensing mechanism because thin liquid soap is more likely to flowback upwards. Although the difference of soap dispensing amounts betweenthick liquid soap and thin liquid soap is insignificant, users sometimeshave the illusion of a marked difference.

Mass-produced soap dispensers do not provide models that featurespecific dispensing amounts to suit different users or circumstances;they are available only in models that deliver the most popular orminimum soap dispensing amount. Therefore, for users who desire moresoap to be dispensed, all they can do is repeat the soap dispensingoperation until they are satisfied. However, the users may not be awarethat such repeated operations may consume more power, shorten theservice life of the dispenser and waste a lot of time.

BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

In order to overcome the shortcomings of the prior art, the presentinvention provides a mechanism for doubling a soap dispensing amount ofan automatic soap dispenser, so that the soap dispensing amount can beflexibly or constantly increased to suit different user needs.

The aforesaid mechanism for doubling a soap dispensing amount of anautomatic soap dispenser comprises: a driving device disposed in a soapdispenser and including a motor and a speed reducer having an output endcoupled with a pushing element; a resisting element disposed on an innersurface of a casing of the soap dispenser, wherein the inner surface ison a forward moving side of the pushing element; and a soap containerhaving a bottom connected with a discharge tube located between thepushing element and the resisting element. The mechanism for doubling asoap dispensing amount is characterized in that a pad is coupled to aside of the resisting element facing the pushing element so as to beadjacent to an outer surface of a middle rubber section of the dischargetube. Since the resisting element is extended in the presence of the padso as to get closer to the outer surface of the middle rubber section ofthe discharge tube than without the pad, or even come in contact withsaid outer surface, liquid soap will be dispensed as soon as the pushingelement is moved towards the resisting element until the pushing elementcompletes a moving cycle. Hence, without having to modify an existingsoap dispensing mechanism of the soap dispenser and the moving cycle ofthe pushing element, the soap dispending amount of the existing soapdispensing mechanism can be doubled by the present invention. Forexample, the present invention can increase the soap dispensing amountof the existing soap dispensing mechanism from 1 cc to 2 cc.

In the aforesaid mechanism for doubling a soap dispensing amount of anautomatic soap dispenser, the pad is preferably coupled to the resistingelement in a detachable manner, for example by being engaged with orfastened to the resisting element, so that a user can determine whetherit is necessary to increase the soap dispensing amount according to suchfactors as the desired amount of liquid soap to be used and viscosity ofthe liquid soap. When it is desired to increase the soap dispendingamount, the pad can be conveniently and rapidly coupled to the resistingelement; otherwise, the pad need not be installed or can be removed fromthe resisting element.

According to the aforementioned way of increasing a soap dispensingamount, the pad may also be fixedly coupled to the resisting element.Alternatively, the resisting element may be formed with an increasedwidth towards the discharge tube so as to double the soap dispensingamount. However, the latter approach does not allow the soap dispensingamount to return to a normal level, as can be achieved with thedetachable pad mentioned above.

In the aforesaid mechanism for doubling a soap dispensing amount of anautomatic soap dispenser, the middle rubber section of the dischargetube connected to the soap container preferably has a hardness of HS50to HS55 (Shore Hardness), so that the discharge tube produces arelatively small resistance and deforms to a larger extent whencompressed jointly by the pushing element, the resisting element and thepad, thereby doubling the soap dispending amount.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE SEVERAL VIEWS OF THE DRAWINGS

The structural features and effects of the present invention can be bestunderstood by referring to the following detailed description of thepreferred embodiments and the accompanying drawings, wherein:

FIG. 1 is a right-hand cross-sectional view of a soap dispensingmechanism for use in an automatic soap dispenser according to thepresent invention;

FIGS. 2 and 3 are partial structural drawings of the soap dispensingmechanism for use in an automatic soap dispenser according to thepresent invention, wherein FIG. 2 is a schematic drawing showingengagement of a pad with a resisting element and FIG. 3 shows anothermode of engagement between the pad and the resisting element;

FIGS. 4 and 5 show soap dispensing operations of a prior art soapdispensing mechanism for use in an automatic soap dispenser and the soapdispensing mechanism according to the present invention, respectively,wherein the soap dispensing mechanism of the present invention depictedin FIG. 5 comprises a pad coupled to a side of the resisting element.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

Referring to FIG. 1, according to a preferred embodiment of a mechanismfor doubling a soap dispensing amount of a soap dispenser of the presentinvention, a soap dispenser 10 comprises a driving device disposedtherein, wherein the driving device includes a motor 11 and a speedreducer 12 having an output end coupled with a pushing element 13. Themechanism further comprises a resisting element 14 provided on an innersurface of a casing 15 of the soap dispenser 10, wherein the innersurface is on a forward moving side of the pushing element 13; a soapcontainer 20 having a bottom connected with a discharge tube 21 locatedbetween the pushing element 13 and the resisting element 14; and a pad30, in the form of a plate or a block, coupled to a side of theresisting element 14 facing the pushing element 13 so as to be adjacentto an outer surface of the discharge tube 21.

Referring to FIGS. 2 and 3, the pad 30 is preferably coupled to theresisting element 14 in a detachable manner. As shown in FIG. 2, inorder to achieve detachable coupling, the resisting element 14 has aside facing the pushing element 13 and provided with an engagingstructure, such as engaging recesses 141, while the pad 30 has a sideprovided with a corresponding engaging structure, such as engagingblocks 31, to be engaged with the engaging recesses 141. Alternatively,as shown in FIG. 3, a pad 40 has a side facing the resisting element 14and formed with an engaging recess 41 which can be coupled to andthereby cover a side 142 of the resisting element 14, wherein the side142 faces the pushing element 13.

Referring now to FIGS. 4 and 5, a comparison of soap dispensing amountsis made between a first implementation mode (FIG. 5), in which the pad30 is present and is disposed on the resisting element 14, and a secondimplantation mode (FIG. 4), in which the pad 30 is absent, under thecondition that an existing soap dispensing mechanism of the soapdispenser 10 and an output moving cycle of the pushing element 13 arenot modified. In FIG. 4 as well as in FIG. 5, a side of the pushingelement 13 facing the resisting element 14 is in contact with the outersurface of the discharge tube 21 and causes a slight depression thereon.As shown in FIG. 5, when the pad 30 is installed on the resistingelement 14, the resisting element 14 is extended by 1.5 to 2 mm towardsthe outer surface of the discharge tube 21. In other words, an outersurface of a middle rubber section 211 of the discharge tube 21 iscloser to, or even in contact with, a surface of the pad 30. Therefore,as soon as the pushing element 13 is moved towards the resisting element14, liquid soap 50 is discharged until the pushing element 13 completesits moving cycle. In contrast, in the second implementation mode, aninitial part of the moving cycle of the pushing element 13 towards theresisting element 14 only serves to move the discharge tube 21 towardsthe resisting element 14. The liquid soap will not be discharged until aside of the discharge tube 21 abuts against the resisting element 14.Then, the liquid soap is dispensed until the pushing element 13completes its moving cycle. Compared with the second implementationmode, wherein the initial part of the moving cycle of the pushingelement 13 is dedicated only to moving the discharge tube 21 but notdispensing the liquid soap, the first implementation mode apparentlydispenses more soap because the liquid soap is dispensed during theentire moving cycle of the pushing element 13. According to testsconducted by the inventor of the present invention using the same soapdispensing mechanism and different types of liquid soap having the sameviscosity, the soap dispensing amount in the first implementation modeis approximately twice that in the second implementation mode.

The present invention has been described with reference to a preferredembodiment thereof and it is understood that the embodiment is notintended to limit the structural features of the present invention.Changes or modifications readily conceivable by a person of ordinaryskill in the art based on the technical contents disclosed herein areanticipated. The technical features of the present invention are definedonly by the appended claims.

1. A mechanism for doubling a soap dispensing amount of an automaticsoap dispenser, comprising: a driving device disposed inside a soapdispenser and comprising a motor and a speed reducer having an outputend coupled with a pushing element; a resisting element provided on aninner surface of a casing of the soap dispenser, the inner surface beingon a forward moving side of the pushing element; and a soap containerhaving a bottom connected with a discharge tube located between thepushing element and the resisting element; the mechanism beingcharacterized by: a pad coupled to a side of the resisting elementfacing the pushing element, so that the resisting element is extended tobe adjacent to an outer surface of a middle rubber section of thedischarge tube.
 2. The mechanism for doubling a soap dispensing amountas claimed in claim 1, wherein, after the pad is coupled to the side ofthe resisting element, the resisting element is extended by 1.5 to 2 mmtowards the outer surface of the middle rubber section of the dischargetube.
 3. The mechanism for doubling a soap dispensing amount as claimedin claim 1, wherein the pad is detachably coupled to the resistingelement.
 4. The mechanism for doubling a soap dispensing amount asclaimed in claim 3, wherein the pad has a side facing the resistingelement and having an engaging structure for detachably engaging withthe resisting element.
 5. The mechanism for doubling a soap dispensingamount as claimed in claim 1, wherein the pad is fixedly coupled to theresisting element.
 6. The mechanism for doubling a soap dispensingamount as claimed in claim 1, wherein the middle rubber section of thedischarge tube connected to the soap container has a hardness of HS50 toHS55.